Upload Your Site - Expanded Hosting Startup Guide
You can upload files to your hosting account using FTP, an FTP client, or cPanel’s File Manager. FTP accounts allow secure access to your files and can be customized for different users and directories. Alternatively, cPanel’s File Manager offers a simple, browser-based way to upload and manage files without additional software.
Creating FTP Accounts
Before we upload your files via FTP or cPanel's File Manager, we need to set up your FTP accounts first. Click on the link below for the instructions on creating an FTP account in cPanel.
How to Create an FTP Account in cPanel
An FTP account is used to upload and manage files on your website. It is automatically created in cPanel when you sign up for hosting, create a cPanel, create an addon domain or subdomain, or enable anonymous FTP. By default, you already have an FTP account in your cPanel. Use your cPanel username and password to log in.
You can create new FTP accounts to grant access to other users without sharing your cPanel and billing login credentials. For each additional FTP account you create, you can also assign each user a different access level by assigning them to a specific directory only.
Here is a video tutorial to help you create an FTP account.
To create an FTP account:
- Log in to cPanel.
- Look into the Files section, then click on FTP Accounts.
- Enter the necessary information in the required fields.
- In the login field, type the name of the FTP user. A full FTP user name will always be formatted as [email protected].
- Choose the domain where you wish to create the FTP account by selecting it from the Domain dropdown menu. You cannot create an FTP account without your domain name in it, regardless of the publish destination.
- In the Password fields, enter a password that will be used to authenticate this FTP account.
- In the Directory field, cPanel will auto-populate an assumed directory based on the FTP username, but that is usually incorrect. We recommend providing the directory you would like the user to access.
If you erase everything and type a single "/", the user will have access to your home directory (anything outside of the public_html folder). -
In this step, you can determine a user's access level. The FTP user cannot navigate outside the specified directory; however, they can access all files and subfolders within it.
- Set a Quota for the FTP account. The quota is the maximum amount of bandwidth the FTP user may use. If you leave the quota unlimited, the FTP user can use the full bandwidth allowance for the cPanel account.
- Click Create FTP Account.
FTP Client
There are many different FTP programs available; some are free, some are paid, and some are better than others.
Free FTP Clients
A listing of free FTP clients with linked video tutorials can be found in the following articles:
FTP Clients Available for Purchase
We also offer tutorial articles on several FTP clients, available for purchase. The listing below only includes the clients for whom HostGator has basic tutorials. If there is an FTP client you wish to use that is not listed below, it is still likely to be compatible.
FTP Connection Settings
Once you have the FTP program of your choice, you will need to configure the proper settings to connect to the hosting account. A general run-through of the setup of FTP can be found in the following article:
If you wish to use an already installed and configured tool, cPanel offers a browser-based file manager that lets you upload your content from within your control panel.
Document Root
FTP clients such as FileZilla and CuteFTP typically use the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to connect the local machine to a remote server and manipulate, add, and remove files across different document roots.
The document root is the folder where you keep website files for a domain name. Since cPanel allows for multiple domain names, it is recommended that you create a unique folder for each domain to avoid confusion.
For more information on document roots, please see the following articles:
For assistance getting started using FTP, please see the following article:
File Manager
cPanel's File Manager feature is an easy way to navigate and view files within the cPanel interface. File Manager helps ensure proper file paths and permissions, and even beginners can see the file structure of their sites.
You can access File Manager in cPanel by clicking the File Manager icon in the Files section.
Here is a video tutorial on using the File Manager.
For information and tutorials on using the cPanel File Manager, please refer to the following articles: